Jerilyn “Jeri” McIntyre enjoyed her time in Norfolk and has fond memories of her first years in her hometown.
She spent her early years in Norfolk, and while she moved with her family to California more than 70 years ago, she told the Northeast Community College community in the summer of 2023 while visiting that her heart is still attached to Norfolk. Her father, Frank McIntyre, was dean of Norfolk Junior College from 1942 to 1949. Norfolk Junior College was one of the institutions that merged into Northeast Community College in 1973.
Jeri and her husband, David Smith, visited Norfolk after visiting Iowa City, Iowa, in 2023. They went to Iowa City because both she and David either taught or studied at Iowa in overlapping years.
While they knew some of the same people at Iowa, they didn’t meet until they were both working at the University of Utah. Until 2023, Jeri had not been back to Norfolk since her family moved to Pasadena in 1949.
"David and I still have special appreciation and affection for the time we spent visiting Norfolk and meeting all of you at Northeast Community College two years ago," Jeri said, recently.
Since then, Jeri has written a novel. "Four-Leaf Clover" is a fictional visit to a Midwestern city shaped by Jeri's reminiscing of people and experiences she remembered from her childhood in Norfolk.
"It's not about anyone I know," she said.
When Jeri and David visited Norfolk in 2023, she shared that after her father moved his family for a public relations job, her mother dearly missed Norfolk.
“Mom loved Norfolk. I think Dad did too, but she was always sorry they left Norfolk. She left a journal after she passed away. She talked about not being happy to move to California from Norfolk.”
Jeri and her brother, Joel, received undergraduate degrees at Stanford University. Jeri went on to get a master’s in Journalism from Stanford and later got her Ph.D. in History and Communications from the University of Washington. Joel ended up becoming a lawyer and is now deceased.
Jeri taught and worked in administration at several colleges and universities, including Iowa in Iowa City, and is president emeritus of the University of Utah. She has been retired for about 15 years.
Jeri has provided a copy of "Four-Leaf Clover" at the Northeast Library. It also may be purchased through Amazon, and she has written other books.
PHOTO IDs: David Smith (left) and Jerilyn “Jeri” McIntyre are shown visiting Northeast Community College in 2023. (Northeast Community College)
PHOTO ID: Photo of Frank McIntyre from the 1947 Norfolk Jr. College yearbook.
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